The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automating the conduct of surveys over a network system.
Before proceeding with a particular product, service, strategy, or tactic, it is often desirable to obtain information about the behaviors, opinions, and attitudes of the marketplace. These data will often help predict if potential customers will be interested in acquiring the product or service or how they may react to a given strategy or tactic.
Research plays an important role in understanding the current and future wants, needs, and behaviors of the marketplace. It is often applied in business-to-business and business-to-consumer applications. As a result, many companies invest a significant amount of money, time, and resources in market research programs.
Typically, if someone (a xe2x80x9cclientxe2x80x9d) requires a better understanding of the market place, they will obtain information using an in-house market research department, an out-of-house third party market research firm, or both.
To obtain the requested information, individuals within research groups typically perform a series of linked steps. For example, these steps may include:
(1) working with the client to define the problem;
(2) designing a research instrument (i.e. a survey);
(3) creating the research instrument (writing/producing the survey);
(4) fielding the instrument using mail, telephone, in-person or Internet-based media;
(5) processing the data obtained and analyzing the results; and
(6) generating a report of findings for the client.
In defining the business problem, a client generally specifies a set of parameters that defines the information the client needs to know, a particular target group of interest, a time frame, and a cost for the conduct of the research. For example, a client may want to know within three weeks, the flavor of toothpaste that is most liked by kids between the ages of six and thirteen.
Understanding the needs of the client, the market research professional or company develops a research solution to obtain the necessary information within the client""s given constraints. The research solution typically involves a series of steps that may include creating a survey instruments and fielding to several hundred people by phone or mail to better understand the needs, behaviors, attitudes and opinions of the client""s targeted group.
In general, market research is conducted using one or more of the following communication media:
(1) Mail
(2) Telephone
(3) In-person
(4) Networks including the Internet, e-mail and the World Wide Web
Using the first method, the research group mails surveys to a predetermined number of people who fall within the target group. This method of surveying includes such steps as printing surveys, addressing envelopes, stuffing envelopes with the survey, depositing surveys into a mail system, and then waiting for the target group to mail back responses. Once the responses are received, they are processed, coded, and entered into a computer to be analyzed. The analyzed data is then interpreted and reported back to the client.
A drawback associated with conducting research using mail is that it generally takes eight to twelve weeks from the time a project is initiated to its completion. In many cases, this delay is prohibitively long and unacceptable in today""s competitive market where business decisions often have to be made in daysxe2x80x94not weeks. In addition, the cost of producing, printing, and mailing surveys as well as analyzing the results of the survey can impose a substantial financial burden on many clients.
One approach to reducing the excessive delays that are inherent with mail surveys is to conduct surveys using telephone services. Conducting surveys via the telephone service minimizes the delays associated with mail, but the cost of hiring quality interviewers makes telephone surveying very expensive, thus imposing a substantial financial burden on many clients.
A third medium used for collecting survey data is in-person interviewing. As with telephone, the cost of in-person interviewing can be extremely costly, thus imposing an even higher financial burden on many clients.
A fourth and emerging medium for conducting research is the Internet and other networks. While they offer advantages of speed and lower costs, they reach a small percentage of the consumer and business public (approximately 25% of households and 30% of business) making it difficult to cost effectively find and interview targeted consumers and customers.
Finally, the time and cost of conducting research are often increased by the number of people and steps involved in the traditional research processes. Clients must often work through time consuming and expensive research bureaucracies; engage outside specialists or resources; find targeted respondents; and then wait for surveys to be created, fielded, and processed. The long sought after ideal of having business decision makers be in close and timely contact with their markets is thwarted by traditional systems, methods, organizations and norms.
It is clearly desirable to provide mechanisms and processes that decision makers and researchers alike can use to both quickly and economically reach out and understand the behaviors, opinions and attitudes of consumers and customers in today""s competitive and fast moving market place.
According to one aspect of the invention, a method and apparatus for automating the conduct of surveys over a network system is provided.
According to the method, an automated survey mechanism causes an interface to be displayed to a client which allows the particular client to define a survey. In response to the client interacting with the interface, a sequence of steps is automatically performed. The sequence of steps includes generating a survey based on information received over said network system from said interface; fielding the survey to a group of target users on the network system; gathering results of the survey; and providing the particular client with data that reflects the results over said network system.